Loadholt retires from NFL after 7 seasons with Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS — Right tackle Phil Loadholt has decided to retire from the NFL after seven seasons with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Vikings placed Loadholt, 30, on the reserve/retired list Monday, four days before training camp begins. Loadholt, a second-round draft pick by the Vikings out of Oklahoma in 2009, missed the entire 2015 season because of a torn Achilles tendon. He missed the last five games of the 2014 season due to a torn pectoral muscle.
The Vikings sliced Loadholt’s $6 million salary down to a $2 million base plus incentives before the season started — perhaps as a countermeasure to Loadholt missing the last 21 Vikings games.
Before those injuries, Loadholt missed only one game. He was a starter from his rookie year on. His 89 career regular-season starts are ninth in Vikings history for an offensive tackle.
The Vikings signed former Bengals first-round pick Andre Smith this offseason to compete with Loadholt for the starting job. They were expected to get rid of at least one big-named veteran this summer during training camp.
Loadholt came out of Oklahoma in 2009 and straight into the Vikings’ starting lineup. The 6-foot-8, 345-pound behemoth was the picture of consistency between his rookie season and 2013, when he started at least 15 games per season, helping pave the way for some of Adrian Peterson’s greatest moments in Purple and Gold.